50 Shades of Blue
by PurrPurrMeow
Summary: When Rylinn, a doctor, decides to go on a trip to Vegas, she never expects to see the man who entertained her in her younger years. Steve from Blue's Clues is sitting in a chair at the bar. This is going to be one crazy vacation.
1. Snack Time

**50 Shades of Blue**

_Only a few more hours and then I'll be on the trip of my life. _I thought to myself, checking my watch for the 20th time that evening. Friday evening at the hospital wasn't exactly the slowest day by any means, but I still somehow managed to check the time everywhere I went. Kind of hard to miss when there are clocks in every patient's room. I was going to Vegas. I had all of my paid time off saved up for this little excursion, and tomorrow morning, I would be heading to the airport, out to the desert.

Finally, at 9pm, it was time for me to do my last rounds for the night and head home. Everything was all packed up and ready to go so all I had to do in the morning was brush my teeth and I'd be off. When I arrived home, my dog, Bea, ran to the door to greet me. I set my bag down on the floor and bent down to greet her. This was a nightly routine for us and I was truly going to miss her in the next coming week. Ella, my best friend came out to greet me. "Hey Rylinn." Ella said to me, a wide smile spread across her face. "Hey Ella." I replied, bending down and picking up my bag and placing it on the hook, along with my coat. Ella didn't live with me but she was here more than her own house. You see, when I had first started my job at the hospital, Bea would tear up everything in reach and since there was no one here to stop her, I'd come home to the house looking like a tornado had hit and find little Bea, sitting there with wide eyes, tail wagging, like nothing had gone wrong. One day, I had finally had enough and called up Ella to see if she would come over and puppy sit. Of course I offered her hourly pay and before I could hang up the phone she was over.

Ella and I said our goodbyes and I cooked up something quick in the microwave and had a quick cigarette I headed off to bed. I needed to be up pretty early and no matter how much I wanted to catch up on my reading a little, I had to be in bed.

After a fitful night of sleep, it was 5am already and I had to get moving. I threw on some clothes, checked my bags one more time and with one last look in the mirror, I headed downstairs. There, was Bea, sleeping on her usual spot on the couch. Her head perked up as I walked towards her and she slowly lifted her head. Her tail wagged, though half heartedly. I had the feeling she knew that I was going away and she wasn't too happy about it. "Don't worry girl, I'll be back before you know it." I smiled, giving her a good scratch behind her ears.

The trip to the airport was no easy ordeal. Traffic was backed up a few miles from the entrance. I kept glancing at the clock every few minutes, scared to death to miss my flight. Just as I was finishing my 5th cigarette, I pulled into the gate and I sped to a spot as fast as I could. I quickly walked to my loading gate as fast as I could and swung my baggage on the conveyor. The flight wouldn't be more than a few hours and my only carry on was my phone.

As I sat down in my designated seat, I sent Ella a quick text thanking her again for watching over my house and my baby girl. I pulled on the in flight headphones and looked out the window, letting my mind wander, my stomach flip flopping over the idea of being in Vegas partying all day and night, like I've needed for so long. Or maybe that was just the lift off.

Upon arriving at my destination, shivers ran up my spine. I knew I needed to check into my hotel as soon as I got off the plane but my mind started racing at all of the possibilities of things to do. I could go to a casino, blow a few bucks. Or maybe I could go to one of their famous clubs. No, clubs could wait for later in the night. The atmosphere is better when it's dark outside anyway. I thought about the show Pawn Stars and how their pawn shop was supposed to be in Vegas and chuckled to myself. Wouldn't that be something, checking out a place I religiously watched on tv.

I checked into the hotel, and upon opening the door, saw the most magical thing I had ever seen. Okay, well almost ever. The bed was possibly the most magical thing I had ever seen at least. I set my bag down by one of the tables in the room and let myself flop face first down onto the bed. Just as I had thought, absolutely magical. I got up and looked around again. There was a sliding glass door that lead out onto a balcony. I slid it open and stared out into the city. When the sun went down and all the lights came on, it was definately going to be a beautiful sight.

I walked through the rest of the hotel room, checking out the huge bath tub that had jets and wound back up outside. I light a cigarette and sat down on one of the patio chairs, opening up Google and looking for something to do with the rest of my afternoon. There were plenty of things to do by the look of it. Restaurants, dinner shows, things like that. Things that you should really have a partner for. I ashed my cigarette, feeling that longing feeling I always get when I see two couples out on dates.

I put my cigarette out and decided it would be as good a time as any to unpack. Forget whatever restaurants and ballets, were going on, I bet there's HBO. I flipped on the tv and a flashy commercial caught my eye. It must have been on the info channel because it was talking about a club just a few streets from where I was staying. The walls were purple, the lights were blue, and there were even a few waterfalls. The more I watched the commercial, the more I wanted to go. So as I set my unmentionalbles in a drawer, I decided that going to club Aqua was how I was going to spend my evening.


	2. What Time is it for Blue?

Time was ticking by so slowly. I flipped through the channels a bit, glancing back at the clock every so often. I wanted to go out when the sun was setting, maybe grab a bite to eat and then head over to Aqua. At around 4:30, deciding it was as good a time as any, I decided to hop in the shower and throw the sexiest clothes I had brought on. After toweling off, I grabbed my makeup bag. It took a while to figure out what color palate I should use, seeing as I don't exactly have to wear that much makeup as a doctor. I slipped on my dress after finally deciding my face looked nice enough, I flipped my hair over and ran a brush through it, and then slipped on the sexiest black pair of heels I could find in my bag. I looked at the clock again and decided that I was hungry enough to grab something small at a food stand before heading over to the club.

Deciding to leave my cell in the room, I checked to make sure I had the room key before shutting the door behind me. I looked down both sides of the street to see which way I should start heading. The sunset looked so beautiful, I stared a couple extra minutes in that direction, feeling myself smiling at the sight, before heading in the opposite direction looking for a hot dog vendor or whatever they had on the busy streets of Vegas. I could see everyone in their fancy attire, heading down in that direction to the heart of Vegas. Stopping at the first pretzel vendor I saw, I ordered one with extra salt and started in the direction of Aqua. I couldn't tell if the feeling inside was excitement or anxiety. Clubbing wasn't really my thing back home. Ella had gotten me to come out with her a few times but there wasn't really anything there that held my attention. But when in Vegas...

Taking my time, I slowly strolled along the sidewalk, finishing the gigantic pretzel. Damn, was I thirsty. Good thing I'm going to a club then, right? I rolled my eyes at the notion of being so thirsty that I drank 3 margaritas to quench the thirst. When I arrived at the front doors of the club, another smile spread across my face. Everything advertised on the commercial was nothing compared to what I was really standing there looking at. The club had just recently put on their front lights, lighting up the sign Aqua, which was black and white writing with little bubbles surrounding it. To either side of the entrance, there were two mini water falls which were starting at the top of the building and slowly and gracefully cascading into little rock surrounded pools which had purple lights illuminating the bottoms of the pool.

I got up to the front of the line and showed the bouncer my I.D. I expected to be carded, as I was 26 and didn't really look it. He handed me my card back and I walked through the purple satin curtains into a dim, blacklighted room with blue lights on the ceiling that were dancing along to the rhytm of the beat. There were people dancing all around, some already completely wasted even though it was only about 6pm. I slipped past a few bartenders walking around with trays filled with a few shots of various drinks. I walked over to the bar and waited for the bartender to finish with the other customers. I sat down in one of their chairs and swiveled it around to look at the croud again.

There were a few people around my age but most people were here either on their honeymoons or had just turned 21. I guess this is the best place to have your 21st birthday I thought to myself remembering how I had spent my 21st. Medical school wasn't exactly an easy A and, that beind said, you can imagine all of the free time I actually did have. The party, although I would have loved to get out of town for a bit, happened at my house. I had a few friends over and my boyfriend at the time came but that was only after I had finished a 10 page essay on the cardiovascular system. I turned back to the bar to see where the bartender was and saw her helping a guy in his late 30s and my eyes traveled over to his face.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. There was no way. I looked up at the lights on the celing, closed my eyes tightly and pursed my lips for a second. I looked back and he was still sitting there, still completely resembling the man I was thinking of. There was no way in hell that this was Steve from Blues Clues. I had watched every single episode of that show when I was a kid and although he definately looked older, it was absolutely Steve from Blues Clues. I stared at him for a few more minutes only to realize the bartender was standing opposite me, waiting for my drink order. I snapped my mouth shut, not previously realizing it was open and put in an order for a few wine coolers and a shot of vodka. I bit my lip and snuck another look to my right.

Steve was talking to a man next to him so I got a clear look at his face. He had aged quite well and looked just as handsome as I had remembered him when I was 5. I watched as he laughed at what the man said and then, as if feeling my eyes on him, his eyes slid slightly to the left and I could have sworn he was looking at me. I turned back to the bar and acted like I was picking my nails. Why had I decided to leave my cell in the room? I could have acted like I was emailing some important "documents" to my "assistant". I snuck another quick glance at him out of the corner of my eye and noticed that he was no longer looking at me.

The bartender brought me my drinks and I took the shot. Slamming my glass on the counter, I looked over again to see if he was still sitting there. Shit, he and his friend had slipped away. He was probably creeped out by all of my staring. I frowned and popped open my lid to my wine cooler and took a sip. My stomach was warmly tingling and I propped my head up in my hand, slightly slouching. It had been so long since I'd drank, I almost forgot what it felt like. I was already buzzed and I watched as the lights bounced off of the clear bar, tinged with a light blue.

"Hello ma'am." Came a voice from behind me. I straightened up and spun around. I had heard that voice so many times when I was little and I couldn't believe it was directed towards me. I looked up at Steve and could feel my heart in my throat. "Can I buy you another drink?" He asked smirking. I smiled back, shook my head yes, and spun back around in my chair.


	3. Mailbox's Birthday

There was no way I was going to let him see how red my face had gotten. "I saw you checking out my friend." He smirked, sliding into the seat next to me. My stomach did a flip flop as I looked at him again. Exactly how I had remembered him on tv, except he was quite a bit older and a little more well defined in his dressing. Instead of that damn green striped shirt he was wearing a nice sports coat over a shirt that had a band's name on it that I didn't recognize. Watching that show was the highlight of my day and even though I was too young to think he was attractive or even realize those feelings, nothing made me happier than to sit down in front of the tv and watch Blue find those clues and "scadoo" into picture frames.

"I was actually looking at you." I replied. I don't know if it was the alcohol finally starting to get to me or if I was just feeling extra balsy tonight but I was talking to Steve from Blues Clues on my trip to Vegas. Could this trip possibly get any better?

"Oh, is that so?" He asked laughing.

Obviously he knew that I was looking at him instead of his friend. He's an actor for God's sake, he probably gets stared at all the time. "So, what are you having?" He asks, flagging down the bartender. I looked down at my half finished wine cooler and pushed it aside before answering "Anything fruity." He smiled at me again and I felt my entire body get warm.

"So, what brings you to Vegas?" He asked after a few sips of his beer.

"I just wanted to get away from it all I guess. I've always wanted to come to Vegas and I made a little extra money this year so I finally, thought, why not?" I replied, gulping down a good portion of the Peach Sangria he had gotten me.

"Didn't come with any girlfriends?" He questioned, looking around, apparently expecting to see one of my friends sitting at the bar. "No, I just thought I would make it a nice relaxing trip by myself."

"Sounds nice." He smiled, and I couldn't tell if he was getting bored already or if he actually thought it was nice. I couldn't get rid of the sinking feeling that it was the former. I wasn't exactly being the most interesting person in the world, letting him ask me all the questions and just sitting there like I was uninterested. Oh God, I hope he didn't think I was uninterested. I fingered a few water dropplets on my glass before opening my mouth.

"What about you?" I ask. Oh yeah, that was really interestening, way to go Rylinn.

He laughed and took another sip of his beer. "As you know, I haven't been working on my acting career too much lately. But I don't know if you know about my band." He smirked, egging me on to ask him more questions. It was true that I hadn't seen him in anything and if I could pull out my phone in front of him and look on IMDB right at that moment, I would because I honestly had forgotten he existed until this night.

"Oh a band? Really? What are you guys called? Maybe I've heard of you from somewhere." I asked, honestly intriuged about the whole thing.

"Well, I started up this band after I realized I had just an ounce of talent in music. I started out just by myself and then I got a group of friends together and we made _Steve Burns and the Struggle_. We have an album out but, you know, they're not really flying off the shelves because no one really remembers me." I felt like I had just read that somewhere. I looked around, looking for posters or something that might have said his name on it. I looked down at his shirt and realized where I had seen it. The band I didn't know. "But, we've been playing at a few bars and clubs recently here in Vegas to try and get our name out there." He finished, taking another sip of his beer and looking at me for a reply. "So when are you playing next?" I asked, wondering if he still had a show to do tonight or if he had just finished one. He smiled, that warm sincere smile he usually saved, as I remember, when we "got a clue". "We actually got a gig at XS Nightclub tomorrow night. It's one of the hardest clubs to get a gig at. You should stop by actually, I'll give you the address and everything if you want. It would be really fun. They have a huge pool in back, and you can play Blackjack and Craps if you're any good at those." "Sounds great." I smiled remembering how bad I am at both of those and how there was no damn way I was getting into a pool with a whole bunch of drunk strangers.

Steve jotted down the location and time of the show the next night. "Well, I had better get going, my friend's been waiting a pretty long time." He said, holding his hand out for a hand shake. Something I usually thought was reserved for buddys, not for a girl you just met in a bar, bought drinks for, and invited to your next show but, whatever, this is freaking Steve Burns. I told him I was going to try my hardest to make it, even though I knew without even thinking twice that I was definately going to be going. He downed the rest of his beer and waved goodbye. I sat there for the next few minutes, twirling my straw around in my drink, the biggest smile I think I have ever put on, before drinking the rest and getting up to leave. It was 2:00 by the time I finally got back into my hotel room. I unlocked the door, the huge smile still plastered on my face, and flopped down in the bed. I don't remember falling asleep but I do remember a lot of dreams about Blue.


	4. What's is Blue's Favorite Story?

I woke up sometime late the next morning. I rolled over and looked at the alarm clock on the table next to my bed. 12:00PM. Great way to start my vacation, already wasting half the day away. I stretched and rolled back over, closing my eyes and reliving the dreams I had last night. There was this one crazy one where I had met Steve from Blues Clues at a club and he invited me to see his band play tonight. I laughed and stretched, imagining how ludicrous it would actually be if I had met Steve at a club. I bolted up mid stretch and gasped. I HAD met Steve at a bar and I WAS going to see him and his friends play at XS Nightclub.

I couldn't believe my luck. I got out of bed and did a little dance before going to brush my teeth. As I stared at myself in front of the mirror, I realized that I didn't know what I was going to wear tonight. I figured it was a dance club so I should wear something flirty but casual, whatever that meant. I went back into the room and started rummaging through my suitcases. I didn't pack one dress. Seriously? How can I have planned a trip to Vegas and had not even packed once nice article of clothing? How could I have not even thought about potential date opportunities while I was here? Was I just going to come here and sit alone in my room or at the bar of a different club every night, drinking away my loneliness?

Okay, get a grip, your life isn't that difficult. All you have to do is go to a store and get something to wear. I told myself, making one last sweep of my luggage to make sure I didn't pass anything over. Once convinced that I didn't even have a shirt long enough to double as a short dress, I decided I was just going to have to walk down to the first store I see and grab something. Better get some shoes while I'm at it.

After I was all showered up, I grabbed my room key and my purse and headed to the elevator. I didn't really pay any mind to the shops in the area, not expecting to have to buy anything, especially since I know everything's going to cost me an arm and a leg. Luckily, all hotels have pamphlets and brochures pointing out the hottest tourist spots. I picked a few of them up and headed out the doors and over to a bench in front of the hotel.

After deciding that the Macy's down the street would be my best bet, I shoved the pamphlets into my bag and headed on my way. "Hello, welcome to Macy's! Is there anything I can help you with?" An over excited sales clerk practically screeched in my direction.

"No, that's alright, I think I got it." There was nothing I hated more than people practically breathing down my neck when I was just trying to shop."

"Okay, let me know if you need anything!" She shouted. I half smiled and replied "Okay, thanks." Before turning to look at the dresses. Everything seemed so, flashy. I guess that's what all the clothes look like when you're in Vegas.

After what seemed like hours, I finally found a dress I was satisfied. It was baby blue and had little Hibiscus flowers all over it. Fortunately, I love Hibiscus flowers. Unfortunately, the dress was so short it almost didn't reach my knees and it didn't have sleeves, or even a top really. It was missing half of it at least, a tube top, something I hadn't seen since the 90s. I picked out some cute sandals and decided this was going to be enough. I had all the makeup and hair styling products I needed back at the hotel. I didn't need to be spending any more money.

When my purchase was all completed, I decided that I was going to walk around the neighborhood for a little while to see if there was anything I couldn't live without. I only walked a little less than a mile when I spotted a record store. Suddenly, a thought struck me. I'm going to this show tonight and I don't even know what he sounds like. He could be the most awful thing I've ever heard and I would feel cheated out of the lump sum of money I had to throw in to get into this club. I know I could have downloaded his album or looked up his songs on YouTube but something about going into a record store and looking for his CD, made things just seem more real.

I walked in to a quiet store, nothing but the sound of the clinking bell on the door and the soft hum of the radio station. Sounded like it was one of those oldie stations and I couldn't help but wonder if that was the reason no one was in here. In Vegas, everything is hip and funky. This record store, was not. "Can I help you with anything?" A gentleman asked me, coming out of a back room. Like I said before, I usually hate having people breathing down by neck but I wanted to make an exception for this time. I wanted to feel the rush of saying his band's name.

"Uh yes, actually, do you have _Steve Burns and the Struggle_ by any chance? Anything by him really?" I asked, feeling my face start to burn scarlet.

"Hmm, Burns. Let me see." The man replied, coming from out behind the counter. He was an older gentleman, probably started up this store in the 80s when all the "cool" kids in the neon pinks and greens wanted the latest on the radio. He rifled through the "B"s for a little while before pulling a CD out. "I have _Steve Burns and the Struggle_ and I also just have one by just Steve Burns." He said, pulling out the other CD. He handed them both over and I looked at the covers. Both of them were very abstract and seriously didn't look like anything I would ever listen to on my own free will. "I'll take both of them." Hey, it was for a good cause, right?


End file.
